Trust D&G to make ugly clothing look great. The highland royalty theme they introduced for Autumn Winter 2008/2009 featured a lot of clothing that looked surprisingly exciting despite it being inspired by plus 60s fashion.

Individually, some of the pieces will be difficult to wear but a toned down version, or some of the key pieces on their own will make a strong statement. The skirts (midi length, pleated), ruffled tops, argyle sweaters and head scares are bound to be on the radar for next season.

A disappointing collection came from Gianfranco Ferre, unsurprisingly, since they lost their creative director, Lars Nilsson and all of his designs only a month before the show. Hopefully they can get things together for next season, a brand with that history deserves to survive.

This is one designer that is successfully building an identity for himself while at the same time managing to introduce key shapes, volumes, and embellishments every season.

It is unusual, I think, for a brand to so quickly generate an identity for themselves, but Giambattista Valli is doing just that, and giving Lanvin and Balenciaga a little bit of competition. His silhouettes fro Autumn Winter will be key, rounded 60s inspired looks, a play with waists and shoulder lines, and some lovely cocoon shapes will all be important fro next season. His use of fabric and fur was also very beautiful, again creating something classic but still young and on-trend.

I felt Chanel was a little bit disappointing for Autumn Winter. Although the reviews were good, there was nothing memorable in the collection. Maybe Karl has been focusing on his own work, and Fendi (which by the way looks quite good.)